We have ten games on the FanDuel Main Slate today, and almost all will be significantly effected by wind. Let us hope we can break this wind together. Let’s crop dust the rest of the field and use the wind to our advantage.

In each of these games wind should provide a great advantage to hitters, given the speed, direction, and air density. Any pitcher with a poor fly ball to ground ball ratio or who relies on movement or deception to induce weak contact should be faded or avoided entirely:
• Baltimore Orioles at Cleveland Indians, wind at 18 to 21 mph to center, positive VMI for hitters, temps in the mid 80’s
• Colorado Rockies at Philadelphia Phillies, wind at 12 mph to left/center, temps in the 80’s
• Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds, wind to left at 16 mph gives a bump to right handed hitters
• Toronto Blue Jays at Chicago White Sox, wind to left at 17 mph bumps right handed hitters
• Houston Astros at Boston Red Sox, wind to left/center at 15 mph
• Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees, wind to left at 12 mph
• St. Louis Cardinals at Texas Rangers, wind to right at 9 mph, temps in the 80’s

Games with more room for error than usual for pitchers:
• Milwaukee Brewers at Atlanta Braves, wind in from right at 10 mph counter the usual positive hitting conditions in Atlanta
• Oakland Athletics at Detroit Tigers, wind in from right at 16 to 18 mph and light rain to end the game counter otherwise positive hitting conditions in Detroit
• New York Mets at Miami Marlins, wind in from center at 11 mph, matters only if roof is open

So, how can we use the wind to wind up winned? Continue reading below for the best picks of the day.

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Sometimes simple is better, and the simplest answer today is SP Jose Berrios ($10,100). He’s the third highest cost on the FanDuel slate for a very good reason: The Twins are playing the last place Orioles. That’s right, the Orioles are so bad, they’ve sunken below the sluggish Red Sox in the AL East. It doesn’t hurt that Berrios is sporting a 2-0 record with a 1.26 ERA at home so far this year, and is carrying a .93 WHIP overall. Now on to the picks.

New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

Since the Jays were calling up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. today, the Nationals and Angels thought it was a good idea to drop their own sizzle in low-key fashion like wearing an Elmo doll at the Met Gala. If Carter Kieboom is Barbara Hershey to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s Bette Midler, then who is Luis Rengifo? That jerk husband of Barbara Hershey’s who held her back all of those years? Bette’s giant Marmaduke? Is it embarrassing that I know Beaches by heart? Not at all! According to Prospect Mike, Carter Kieboom’s outlook is, “Kieboom is a plus-hit/plus-power shortstop who split time between High-A and Double-A in 2018. His numbers dipped in the more advanced league, but he still hit .260 with five homers. 15-20 homers is a realistic power ceiling and he won’t sell out for it, meaning a decent average as well. I’ve also become a decent dart-thrower practicing on a picture of Grey.” What the eff, my dude? Carter doesn’t have great speed, which is a bit of a bummer since that always translates, but he could hit for power and average as a middle infidel. Hopefully, this means the end of days for Brian Dozier. Remember, this is the team that promoted and played Juan Soto last year. Mean’s while, the Angels called up Luis Rengifo. Doesn’t his last name look like an acronym of an obscenity on social media? “You really think Killary would’ve been better? RENGIFO, grandma!” The biggest question for me with Rengifo is Brad Assmunch. Does he even know what he has? I highly doubt it. Watch him play La Stella over Rengifo. Here’s what Prospect Mike said, “Rengifo can hit from both sides and he can basically play anywhere on the field. There’s also just enough power to make him really interesting if he sticks in the middle infield. He’ll probably get written off as a super-utility player, but he has a disciplined approach (75 walks, 75 strikeouts across three levels). Oh, and he swiped 41 bags this year to go along with seven homers and a .299 batting average. I know you’re not supposed to scout stat lines…but damn, that’s almost as sexy as the thought of Grey being run over by a car.” C’mon! Rengifo and Kieboom’s projections are both at the Prospectonator. They’re, hmm, how do I put this? Interesting. Surprised to see Rengifo ranked above Kieboom for projections. Think I’d go the other way with them, but they are slightly different, based on needs. I do know I needs me some upside and added them in multiple leagues. ALL ABOARD THE UPSIDE TRAIN! Chugga-chugga Shin-Soo Choo! Chugga-chugga Shin-Soo Choo! Chugga-chugga Shin-Soo Choo! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Corey Seager hit the DL about 15 minutes after weekly lineups locked for the massive Ziplock. “Yo, I got more Ziplocks than a 5th grade bully stealing lunches,” said the very un-woke fantasy baseballer (<–my mom’s term!). Never bully, unless you’re like Cougs and you say, “Bully bully,” thinking it’s “Dilly dilly.” Don’t tell Cougs she’s out of touch! Then ten minutes later, in a cruel twist of fate, Seager told the world he needs Tommy John surgery that he should’ve had this offseason. Anyone who reads The Ball of Razz knows I hate Seager for fantasy, so I won’t rub salt in your wounds if you drafted him, but you did it without my consent, so I could retain the legal services of Gloria Allred and send you to jail. Replacing Seager will be some combo pu-pu platter of Utley, Forsythe, Taylor and Kike. Corey should be back next year to the City of Angels without missing a beat, unlike Corey’s Angels. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Greetings, deep-league friends! Welcome to the small but comfy little corner of Razzball where we talk about baseball players who may be relevant to those playing in AL-only, NL-only, and other deep leagues. Last week we concentrated mostly on the 1-2% owned types that are likely only on the radar of those involved in the deepest NL or AL-only leagues. This week, we’ll open it up a bit and consider players as long as they fall under the 20% owned threshold, while still dipping all the way down to the 1% types. (All % owned stats are from CBS sports leagues. This, in my opinion, tends to be the best happy medium of ownership thresholds, between the sometimes wacky shallowness of Yahoo/ESPN leagues, and the oft-crazy percentages you’ll see on a site like Fantrax with all of their daily-change leagues). Since we have more players to cover than usual, let’s get right to it:

…And presenting our next award is Chance the Rapper and Grey the Napper. *I lean into the mic* “Thank you, it’s wonderful to be here. Did you know the inventor of Ping Pong originally named it Fing Fong? Yup, but he had terrible penmanship.” *no one laughs* “Oh, hey, there’s Jeff Daniels. My dad loves you, but calls you Jack Daniels. Then again, I’m not sure he’s talking about you. Anyway, the nominees for our first Teoscar are… Teoscar Hernandez, from years in the minors of 17 homers, 33 steals. Teoscar Hernandez, from the projections of 17/17 for this year. Finally, Tesocar Hernandez, playing a fire emoji in The Emoji Movie, who yesterday went 4-for-6, 2 runs, 4 RBIs, hitting .421, with his 1st homer, while coming a double short of the cycle. And the winner is… *fumbles with envelope* “Wow! Tesocar Hernandez.” “He was the only one nominated, and it’s called the Teoscars.” “Shut up, Chance! You’re ruining the ratings! By the way, to cover the weed smell in your house, you should open a Subway sandwich shop in your living room.” So, obviously Teoscar’s been all that and a swag bag of freebies, and I would grab him in all leagues. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

The National League Central, the division that cannot be won unless you have a C in the name. Let’s see, the Chicago Cubs won in 2016 and 2017, the Cardinals won from 2013-2015, and Cincinnati won in 2012. A glitch in the Matrix occurred in 2012, when the Brewers took home the crown. Other than the Houston Astros, who won four division titles (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001) before getting the boot to the American League West in 2010, it’s been all Cincinnati, Cardinals, and Cubs. Pittsburgh. Where you at? Ah, it’s good to have baseball back. Each week, I will go through the position battles for each division. Let’s take a look at the NL Central.

With only seven games on the schedule today we’re spending the bulk of our money on starting pitching, because once you get passed the top 3 arms, there’s not a whole lot left. Clayton Kershaw, $26,700 at Philadelphia and Patrick Corbin, $18,600 at San Diego are on top of the Streamonator and I’m feeling both matchups. They’re both lefties, the’ye both facing two terrible offenses who strike out more than most teams in the league and they’re the cream of the crop tonight. It’s Kershaw’s four start coming off the DL, so he should be in a good groove and he won’t be on a pitch count less than a 100 pitches. The reins should be off tonight and I’m thinking he’ll come away with a W and double digit Ks. Corbin got rocked for 8 ER in 4.1 innings at home against the Padres back on September 8th. Look for a monster bounce back game in pitcher friendly Petco tonight, as I’m sure he’s been studying tape. Now that we’ve spent a good chunk on our pitchers. let’s get creative and see what we can do on the offensive side.

New to FantasyDraft? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well be sure to read our content and subscribe to theDFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

I shall open this column by quoting September 1st Grey: “I’m not enthused by the guys headed to the majors this September.” I agree completely – I thought there would be a lot more intriguing under-the-radar call-ups to discuss, both for NL or AL-only help over the next few weeks, or to grab with an eye on next year in keeper leagues. Instead, I’m reminded that keeping one’s head in the fantasy baseball game can be less fun and more chore-like with each passing day as we inch towards October.

In September, there’s a lot more inventory, but less of value. Veteran players on non-contenders are getting rested more often, as are young studs on playoff contenders. Starting pitchers are hitting innings limits. And since expanded rosters mean that there’s often no need to officially DL players, it can be hard to tell who is going to get at bats at all, and who is pretty much done for the year. If you’re still actively managing a fantasy team in a deep league at this time of year, there may be more names than ever to choose from on waivers… the tricky part is finding anyone who might actually help your team over the next three and a half weeks.

Now, just since I started writing this, news has arrived that J.P. Crawford and Luiz Gohara have reached the show, so things are getting at least a little more interesting. Meanwhile, here’s this weeks handful of guys who may still be floating around in the deepest of leagues:

Let’s just go on what logic tells us. Not Logic, the rapper, but logic the thing you’ve been chipping away at with your weed smoking. In 2015, Billy Beane traded Drew Pomeranz to the Padres for Yonder Alonso. At the time, we have to assume Beane wanted a slugging first baseman. A guy that could hit 25+ homers. Okay, so they dealt with terrible Alonso for two years, and, then, when they get what you think they had to be hoping for, they trade him for a prospect (Boog Powell) that many believe is a bench player. Now, even if Powell pans out, you had in Alonso what you wanted already. I’m beginning to think Beane just does trades to do trades. If you were to hear in fifteen years that Beane was trying to make the A’s worse to get out of Oakland, would anyone be surprised? Moneyball 2 is going to be starring Jamie Kennedy and straight-to-DVD. Any hoo! Alonso loses some value going to the M’s because he’ll likely platoon with Danny Valencia (hit his 13th homer on Sunday), though, I guess it could be argued this is a positive move for Alonso, because he’s hit .188 vs. lefties this year. As for Powell, the A’s might promote and platoon him because what do they have to lose? Or rather, what do they have to win? If they’re lucky, Boog will bring some of his trademark ribs. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball: